. a final weekend of the campaign. >> the election is just four days away. it's a final friday on the campaign trail. president obama targeting voters in battleground ohio. >> you have a choice to make. >> mitt romney giving what he calls his closing arguments to voters in the midwest. >> we're shouting four more days. >> a presidential race still too close to call. you're watching the news edge you decide 2012, our coverage starts now. >> thanks for joining us. i'm brian bolter. the candidates are heading into the last weekend of campaign 2012, making their last pitch to voters.

the president and mitt romney circling each other in the midwest and we're starting with tom fitzgerald on the trail. tom? >> reporter: good evening, brian. for several days, hurricane sandy dominated the conversation but there are the new numbers out tonight from the labor department. employers adding 175,000 jobs, but the jobless rate ticking up from sun.8 to 7 -- 7.8 to 7.9%, again, unemployment taking center stage in the campaign. we begin in springfield, ohio. president obama making three stops in the state and telling crowds the state has made progress from four years ago and that republicans would reverse the trend. >> if it's a choice between going back between the top-down policies that got us into the mess or the middle-up, bottom- up strategies that have gotten us out of this mess and they keeping us going. >> reporter: to west alice, wisconsin, now. governor mitt romney telling

his supporters the job market may remain stagnant no matter who is elected. >> this is about america. it's about the future that we're going leave to the children. we thank you, and we ask to you stay out of all of the way to the finish line. we're going win on tuesday night. >> reporter: stay in wisconsin now, vice president joe biden raleying democrats, taking mitt romney to task. his proms is to challenge china on foreign trade. >> i'll tell you what, romney getting tough on china got one word for it: malarkey. [ laughter ] absolute malarkey. >> reporter: finally, we know nevada. that is where republican congressman paul ryan told supporters the federal budget ends det -- and debt are looming threats for the country's future. >> we need to balance this budget. we need to get the debt under control. we have a moral obligation for the children and grandchildren to make sure they get a debt-

free nation and not the one the president has in front of them. they will decide who is president the next four years. today on the trail, november 2nd, 2012. we'll bring in mark, our fox 5 political analyst. the job markets out now, they're a step in the right direction. the republicans spinning this is not good enough. how big of a difference can this make this close to the election? >> it didn't hurt the president. 171,000 jobs, that is edition, .1 of 1% unemployment went up. they didn't want to go over 8%. it's a on you wash overra -- awash, overall, he escaped ominous terrible figures. >> talk about independent voters. so much is made about it the last few months. do you feel at this point that either one of the candidates has made real headway into the

independent vote? >> if there is one component, yesterday, i said that mayor bloomberg had endorsed president obama four years ago. that is a mistake. even political analysts make mistakes occasionally. he did endorse him and said because of the president's views on the climate change, he is the prominent, the most prominent independent probably in the country and the richest in the country. there was one component that bothers the obama campaign in the most dire state when the president was leading by so many points. independence is trending toward romney, and that is why he's going to pennsylvania to try to get independent votes even though pennsylvania democrats outnumber republicans registered voters by over a million people. he feels the election should be, can be won with independence, and that component is going to romney. >> mark, if we drew lines on

that today on the trail map, you would actually see barack obama and mitt romney crisscrossing each other throughout the midwest today. you tend to think it that where they go is where their attentions are at this point. so, how in play are wisconsin and ohio right now as far as swinging this one? >> well, wisconsin, the president won by 14 points where's trying to hold on and to get the one-vote victory to get all of the electoral votes. he did very well in northwestern wisconsin, a white rural area. he flipped 12 of 19 counties, which wasup pret precedented. in ohio -- unprecedented and in ohio, he won by five points, a sizeable margin, and he's back there trying to get those 18 electoral votes. the real question, i go back to pennsylvania, is romney engaging in a ultimate head fake or faint by going into pennsylvania on sunday? is it an app?

a strategic design to get obama to go in to pennsylvania, or do they actually feel that those 20 electoral votes can be gained or is it an act of desperation? >> i want to bring it back home here to the district. the d.c. city council, the at- large incumbent michael brown is up for re-election. there have been questions regarding the councilman about campaign financing. is michael brown in any kind of real trouble heading into tuesday with all of these headlines that have been surrounding him? >> he's incumbent and has a great political name. his late father was chairman of the democrat national committee, secretary of commerce, and a very prominent african-american in this country. michael brown is in trouble. that scene is in jep -- seat is in jeopardy, david grasso is running against him, and that is a question will african- american voters in great numbers stay with michael brown or will they give a look at

grasso? one thing that detracts from grasso, he worked for sharon amrose, very much perceived as an antitenant council member. michael brown is playing up that he is a champion of lower income people. >> as they say, we shall see on wednesday when all of the result comes in. fox 5 political analyst mark plotkin, we'll get a look at the president up close. he'll be back in virginia tomorrow. >> tom. the clock is ticking for people in maryland trying to vote ahead of election day. the voting centers close their door at 9:00 tonight. maureen umeh. >> reporter: you can't see behind me. the line here is long and getting longer as folks get up work and come down here. a lot of them are prepared to go three to four hours to get inside to vote. take a look at the lines. unbelievable. it's stretching from the road all the way down the sidewalk, around the bowie library and finally inside. many people have been waiting

for hours. a lot of them saying they want to get it out of the way and vote early. the fact that this is the last day to do so, making it more important. >> you never know what is going to happen. i feel like it's bitter to do it early and get it done, you know, and wait. you never know how long the lines are going to be there. i figured i got off work, might los angeles come. >> kind of your right as an american. a lot of people fought and died for this right. i served in the navy and it's important to me to come out and vote, you know, exercise my right. doesn't matter who you're voting for, as long as you research who you're going to vote for and what they stand for, and you know, just get out here and do the right thing. >> that is capacity exactly what folks are saying. once they are inside the library, there is another 25- minute wait, cia -- they say, it's going to be a long night for them. if you're in line by 9:00, can you still get inside and vote. if you haven't come down, please do so. you have ample time. it's going to be chilly.

brian? >> all right. coming up on the special edition of the news edge, religion and the 2012 election. take a look at the candidates' belief and how religion can impact the vote on tuesday. we're tracking the weather for election day. will it be stormy in parts of the u.s.? we're watching the news edge you decide 2012. we'll be right back. ight back.

. the subject hasn't been talked about much. can you thank the candidates themselves. >> it was always the case for the men running for president. religion and talkers tonight. >> reporter: they barely mention it now. before they became the nominees, the respect of the political parties, barack obama and mitt romney were more talkative about the ideas on religion. we're getting another taste to it now in two old videos that are trending on the internet. first off, mitt romney appeared on a television show in 2007 when he first ran for president. romney in this video, developed an emotional defense of his mormon faith over the discussion of abortion, taking

issue with the host bringing up romney's faith. >> i don't like coming on the air and having you direct my church. >> i'm not going after you -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> that's right. >> i know. >> i'm not running into mormon and i don't -- i get tired of coming on a show like yours and talking about mormons. >> i don't -- being about that. >> i do. i do. >> that was mitt romney. the one that we haven't seen on this campaign trail on 2012, but likewise before he ran for president in june of 2006, then- senator barack obama delivered a speech called a call to renewal in which the senator delivered a blunted message how he believed the united states was no longer a christian nation, a speech seized upon by evangelical conservatives opposed to the president. >> whatever we once were, we are no longer a christian nation, at least not just. we are also a jewish nation, a

muslim nation, a buddhist nation and a end use nation and a nation of non-believers. &. and even if we did have only christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-christian from the united states of america, whose christianity would we teach in the schools? >> now, president obama, of course, made history in 2008 when he became the first african-american president in u.s. history, you know, there is another faster thing at work here in this election, and that is getting less attention. in 2012, consider this for the first time, there are no white protestants on the presidential ballot, brian. that is a first in american history. >> all right, tom, let's dig deeper into religion and the elect. joining us now to get more insight this evening, dr. robert jones, the ceo and co- founder of the public religion research institute. dr. jones, thank you for coming in. >> hi, thank you for having me. >> there was a time when it was said that the country would

never elect a catholic and jfk came along. there is a time when they said that the people would not elect an african-american anden that president obama came along. doesn't seem like mitt romney's mormonisms not playing a bigger role. what do you think of that? >> it played a lesser role in the general election than the primary election. it was quite an issue when he was running against newt gingrich and when there was white supported voters. as he became the presumptive nominee, we have seen white evangelical supporter support jump into line and consistent with what they have supported, the candidates the last election. john mccain and george w. bush, three quarters of the likely boarders are going to support mitt romney in this election. >> what are catholics supposed to do this time around?

to buy contraceptives for employees of the church and you turn around. the other side of cathol simp promotes the fact of giving to the poor and a lot of the democratic values? >> right. one of the things that you mentioned is that we have two vice presidential candidates who were both catholic and they both represent varying different emphasis of the catholic church in their own way. one of the things we're seeing this year is catholics really have two options. really presented to them and both faithful to catholic teaching. and teaching on social justice. a recent survey. we found that interestingly enough, they say that 2-1 is they would -- they would like to see an emphasis on church leaders from social justice issues and that divide falls out the way you think it would, 6-10 would like to see more emphasis on social justice. the footprints in the church

are supporting obama and about 2/3 of those saying they would like to see more of a life emphasis from the church supporting mitt romney. we see quite a tug of war and catholics are up for grabs. >> same for the jewish vote. the recent poll out of israel, a vast majority of those there support mitt romney and in the united states, not as much of a landslide and still, i'm sure, a faction hang the -- among the jews. >> and they're solid in barack obama's came. in the spring, he was pulling in 2/3 jews and pulling 7 in 10 american jews support. one factor here, american jews like the rest of the country, are voting on the economy this year and it's their perception of which candidate has the best plan for the economy. this is driving the jewish vote it this year. >> and what do you make of president obama not putting

religion at the forefront like so many presidents have in the past? we rarely see pictures of him going to church like we have in the past and previous administrations dating back to bill clinton and beyond? >> it's interesting if you take, you know, church attendance as a proxy. ronald reagan didn't go to church that much either; what we see is, i think, it's fair to say that we heard more about religion from candidate obama than from president obama. we tend to hear from president obama at official occasions, official pronouncements. those sorts of things. we hear it every now and then when he refers to, you know, my brother's, i want to be -- we should be our brothers and sister's keepers, we need to appeal to the golden rule. that sort of thing. it's right to say that neither candidate is to bring us to the forefront and seeing it as something of a liability in this election cycle and largely steered clear. >> all right, dr. robert jones, cofounder of public religion research institute. thank you for coming in tonight. >> thank you. still ahead, election day weather. how a it looking? sue palka is monitoring the

outlook. back after the break. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom;

boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. . >> you're going to hear a bot of -- a lot of buzz in the days leading up to the election. a potential for a nor easter and looks like the timing slowed down on that. we're going start by giving you a big picture look and much of the country is quiet. there will be some snow in the upper midwest. we'll keep an eye on florida, the swing state and there is going to be some shower and

thunderstorm activity there as one little piece of energy not necessarily our nor'easter starts to round the coast. listen, around here, i think it will be on the chilly side. that rain should stay out of our area. maybe some showers and into georgia. thunder for the florida area and keeping an eye on what might be a nor'easter on wednesday. concerned for this in new england, new york, new jersey. one scenario takes it out to sea and another has it coming up the coast. not is like -- not like sandy. they don't need anything additional on what has happened there. the polls open locally on tuesday and we're expecting to have mostly sun around with the temperature in the low 50s, brian. >> in an interview with shepherd smith, when we return. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent.

home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. infringement on our lives.s like such an... how dare they

step into my life that way. it's none of their business. he's trying restrict us, again. he's taking us backwards. george allen is the last thing we need in washington. anncr: the democratic senatorial campaign committee is... responsible for the content of this advertising. . one of our anchors for the national election coverage tuesday night, and tom fitzgerald talked with him today. >> we sure did. >> reporter: we talked about the hurricane and talked about awful of this new campaign mean. the big issue today for the new unemployment numbers are whether or not they will make a difference in what is going happen on tuesday. was this decided awhile ago how people were going to feel about this unemployment rate when it came to choosing how they were going vote on tuesday? >> i think it was for those who

made their decisions based on that. from what polling we have been able to get our hands on, it looks like that. this group that will supposedly decide things at the very last minute the suggestion is that they will vote on how they feel about unemployment. not in the numbers or the statistics and anything like that, but how they feel about it. do i feel like i'm in a good place in my job? do i feel like i have room for advancement? do i feel like my child on is going to get a job, my niece? my nephew? the employment numbers from the last minute are not as important as the feeling of the voters who caucked -- walked in the both undecided. >> we have been in a split area here in washington. on the one hand, virginia can't get enough of these presidential campaigns. for places like d.c. and maryland, they haven't seen any events. i know it's worse in the new york city area. do you see or do you feel a sense out there that increasingly this business in the electoral college is not representative of how a country

will vote and pick its president? >> well, quo look to 12 years ago when the one who won the popular vote did not win the electoral college, and now there are a lot of paths to that happening here. is it possible that mitt romney could win the popular vote and lose in the electoral college and not be the next president? there is a possibility. a lot of these people who work the numbers will show you how that can happen. and i don't think anything like that is going to change until people in the areas that are, that don't get any attention, colorado and the 55 electoral vote his a commercial out there or campaign visit but for a fundraiser throughout the whole cycle. i guess at some point, as those in the smaller communities used to say, we deserve a voice and newman maybe some of those in larger communities like washington and new york and los angeles will stand up and say we deserve a voice, too. >> our conversation early --

earlier with fox news anchor shepherd smith. he said that many parts of lower manhattan are in the dark tonight, the state of new jersey is planning to have national guard trucks set up as temporary polling stations in the communities, especially along the shore that were hardest hit by hurricane sandy. >> tom, in this area, i'm not sure you know the answer, was there early voting in new york and new jersey? >> brian, they had early polling stations at certainly locations. and there is so much in the way of power right now -- outage they trying to get the new jersey national guard into the areas to establish that and they cancelled some but they trying to get back up and running. thanks for joining us. back here at 10 on the news edge at 11.

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